Rim Banna - Seasons of Violet. Gorgeous, sultry singing, in Arabic, of Palestinian love songs, while a bunch of Norwegians lay down a western - middle eastern fusion kinda thing behind. No, really. Try After You Left, for instance.
Ta, I like that a lot.
Yes, thanks Bill. You've probably cost me money....
Rim Banna "The Absent One"
http://www.youtube.com/v/dHsxFpZBtfE&rel=1
CD arrived today, a German seller but dispatched from Switzerland ?
Very good. The track above is by Palestinian poet Rashed Hussein. I can't find an online translation, but it's rather angry.
Here is another of his poems.
Without a Passport
I was born without a passport
I grew up
and saw my country
become prisons
without a passport
So I raised a country
a sun
and wheat
in every house
I tended to the trees therein
I learned how to write poetry
to make the people of my village happy
without a passport
I learned that he whose land is stolen
does not like the rain
If he were ever to return to it, he will
without a passport
But I am tired of minds
that have become hotels
for wishes that never give birth
except with a passport
Without a passport
I came to you
and revolted against you
so slaughter me
perhaps I will then feel that I am dying
without a passport